No interest if adjournments are sought by claimants, says HC

BENGALURU: No interest sho uld be paid in motor accident and workmen compensation cases for periods covered by adjournments granted at the instance of claimants or their witnesses, the HC has said. The court has specified that only when there are special reasons which are recorded or other stakeholders contributed for grant of adjournments, the compensation can be computed for such periods. "Allowing interest for periods covered by adjournments granted at the instance of claimants, virtually amounts to unjust enrichment of claimants at the cost of other stakeholders, namely owners of the offending vehicles or insurance companies. This will not augur well for the system, therefore the same needs to be addressed," Justice Krishna S Dixit has observed. J ustice Dixit has directed tribunals and commissioners to specifically mention the number of adjournments sought by claimants, owners of offending vehicles and insurers and compute th e same so as to make th em part of the judgment. The judge has directed the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT), Dakshina Kannada district, that interest towards compensation in an accident case should not be paid for the period when the matter was idle during 2007-2009, and the residual amount should be returned to New India Assurance Company.

The company had challenged the February 23, 2010 order passed by the tribunal directing it to pay Rs 3,88,500 with 6% interest to the legal heirs of 34-year-old Joseph Mascarenhas, who had succumbed to injuries he had sustained in a vehicle accident on July 8, 2006 . The company claimed the interest had been calculated even for the idle period between 2006 and August 8, 2007 and the tribunal had in one of its orders - on September 3, 2009 - recorded the same.